Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Updates | Downloads | Help

BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 21: Focus Session: Sequence Spaces, Populations and Evolution

BP 21.1: Invited Talk

Wednesday, March 11, 2026, 15:00–15:30, HÜL/S386

How evolution plays out in spatially structured bacterial biofilms — •Rosalind Allen — Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Theoretical Microbial Ecology group, Institute of Microbiology

Bacteria often form dense, spatially structured assemblies known as biofilms; these are prevalent in infections and therefore likely to be an important factor in the evolution of antimicrobial resistance. Biofilms also provide a beautiful testing ground for understanding how evolution plays out in spatially structured populations. Since growth patterns are heterogeneous within a biofilm, the fate of emergent mutants in a biofilm can differ greatly compared to well-mixed, exponentially growing populations. I will provide a brief review of this topic before describing how individual-based simulations combined with simple statistical physics models can provide new insights.

Keywords: Antibiotic resistance evolution; Metabolic fitness landscapes; Coarse-grained models of cell metabolism